Identification-assisted wireless network connections

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for transmitting location-specific information such as wireless network connectivity information are generally disclosed herein. One embodiment includes device configurations and techniques implemented to establish a secondary wireless network connection to exchange the location-specific information between a location-aware device and a location-unaware device. In other embodiments, the location-specific information exchanged via the secondary wireless network connection includes the transfer of the connectivity information, such as a Service Set Identifier (SSID) or network authentication information, from a primary network-aware device to establish a primary network connection at a primary network-unaware device.

PRIORITY APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.13/993,601, filed Jun. 12, 2013, which is a U.S. National Stage Filingunder 35 U.S.C. 371 from International Patent Application Serial No.PCT/US2011/054362, filed on Sep. 30, 2011, published as WO2013/048462,all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments pertain to wireless communications. Some embodiments relateto the use of wireless communication standards for wide and local areanetworks, such as standards from the IEEE 802.11 standards family.

BACKGROUND

A variety of devices may become unaware of location-specific informationneeded to perform operations. For example, one non-limiting use oflocation-specific information includes connectivity information toestablish or re-establish a wireless network connection. When awireless-network device (such as a personal computer (PC)) awakes orresumes from a standby power state, the device will attempt to reconnectto a wireless network. For devices connecting to a wireless network inan unknown location (e.g., a Wi-Fi network operating according to one ofthe standards of the IEEE 802.11 standards family, such as IEEE standard802.11-2007), however, the amount of time needed to reconnect to awireless network may be as much as 2-3 minutes to perform a scan foravailable wireless networks in vicinity of the device, identify theappropriate network to re-connect to, and establish the connection withthe wireless network. Further, the connection process may needadditional time for user involvement to authenticate to or select theappropriate wireless network. A significant amount of the connectiontime process may be consumed by performance of a wireless network scan,even if the user is aware of the wireless network Service Set Identifier(SSID) or has another device connected to the wireless network.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a mobile communication framework including a primarynetwork connection and a secondary network connection for devicesoperating in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of various components used toimplement identification-assisted wireless network connections accordingto one example embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for providing primarynetwork connectivity information to a primary network-unaware deviceaccording to one example embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for providinglocation-specific information from a location-aware device to alocation-unaware device according to one example embodiment; and

FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram of an example machine upon which oneor more embodiments can be implemented.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description and the drawings sufficiently illustratespecific embodiments to enable those skilled in the art to practicethem. Other embodiments may incorporate structural, logical, electrical,process, and other changes. Portions and features of some embodimentsmay be included in, or substituted for, those of other embodiments.Embodiments set forth in the claims encompass all available equivalentsof those claims.

Several of the embodiments described herein describe specific techniquesfor offloading the access and retrieval of location-based information toanother device. In particular, this may include performing the accessand retrieval of location-based information such as the identifier of apreferred wireless network from an associated mobile device for use byanother computing system. Offloading the access and retrieval of thislocation-based information to the associated mobile device may reducethe amount of time needed to reconnect the computing system to thepreferred wireless network from a standby state, and generally providelocation-related information to the computing system that may nototherwise be known or discoverable.

Many users carry a location-aware device in addition to alocation-unaware device that are both connected to at least one commonnetwork. For example, many users carry location-aware mobile devices(such as a smartphone having location-determination functionalityprovided in a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver or the like)enabled with phone network and local area network (e.g., Wi-Fi)connectivity. Location-unaware devices, such as some portablenotebook/laptop computers, netbooks, or tablets, however, may be enabledfor Wi-Fi only, and generally do not include a GPS receiver or built-inlocation-aware capabilities.

In relation to Wi-Fi wireless network connectivity, existing techniquesfor determining the appropriate wireless network to connect orre-connect to each fail to address a number of scenarios. For example,when the user travels to another location and attempts to use alocation-unaware device, the user may not immediately know which Wi-Finetwork exists or is preferred. The user will then perform a networkscan, and identify and authenticate to the Wi-Fi network. This processmuch be conducted even if the user has already connected his or herlocation-aware device (e.g., a smartphone) to the Wi-Fi network.

One problem particularly amplified by the standby state of a computingdevice is the amount of time need to perform a comprehensive wirelessnetwork scan, and identify potential Wi-Fi access points for networkconnection. A potential workaround to the time consumed by a networkscan may include performing wireless scans at repeated intervals by thecomputer system. Performing a wireless scan or wireless networkdetection while a computer is in a standby state consumes power,however, and does not necessarily factor user requirements,authentication information, or whether the user has establishedconnectivity in another device.

A variation to problems encountered when attempting to connect withnetworks in new locations may also occur when the available wirelessnetwork identifier or the network's authentication information changes.The wireless network identifier transmitted in a wireless networkoperating according to IEEE standard 802.11-2007 is referred to as aSSID element, and may be provided as a broadcasted information elementused to indicate the identity of an extended service set (ESS) (e.g.,for an infrastructure access point network) or an independent basicservice set (IBSS) (e.g., for an ad-hoc network). Although manyoperating systems are configured to automatically connect to previouslyconnected wireless networks with a known SSID, connectivity will not beestablished where a new SSID is encountered, or where the network's SSIDor authentication information has changed.

In one embodiment, the determination of location-specific information(such as Wi-Fi connectivity information) may be provided by alocation-aware computing device to a location-unaware device via a knownor previously established secondary wireless network connection. Thissecondary wireless network connection may include the use of one or morelocal or personal area network protocols, such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, andthe like. For example, the location-unaware device, such as a portablePC, may be configured to automatically contact the location-awaredevice, a smartphone, when new location-specific information isrequired, such as when the portable PC resumes from a standby powerstate and is unable to connect to a previously known wireless networkidentifier. The portable PC may also be configured to automaticallyquery the smartphone at regular intervals to determine iflocation-specific information has changed.

In a further embodiment, the location-specific information is determinedby a smartphone operating in proximity to a portable PC. The smartphonemay communicate with the portable PC using any of a number of connectiontypes and networks, such as with a Bluetooth or Wi-Fi connection, usinga known or previously established connection. For example, thesmartphone may communicate with the portable PC to offload variouslevels of network selection logic to a phone and obtain thelocation-specific information relative to the network selection. Inaddition, location-specific functionality such as GPS coordinatesprovided by the smartphone may be used to perform a lookup oflocation-specific information from a service or database hosted by thesmartphone or connected via a network to the smartphone.

FIG. 1 provides an illustration of an example configuration 100 ofnetwork-connected devices operating in connection with one exampleembodiment. As illustrated, a wireless network access point 101, whichis connected to the Internet or another Wide Area Network 102, provideswireless communications via respective wireless network connections 122,121 to a first computing device (portable PC) 112 and a second computingdevice (smartphone) 111. For example, the wireless network access point101 may communicate via the respective wireless network connections 121,122 using an 802.11 (Wi-Fi) wireless network standard.

The smartphone 111 and portable PC 112 are connected via a secondarywireless network connection 131 to provide a conduit for the transfer oflocation-specific information. As illustrated, secondary wirelessnetwork connection 131 provides a direct connection between smartphone111 and portable PC 112, although indirect, intermediary, orpeer-to-peer connections may also be used to establish the secondarywireless network connection 131. The secondary wireless networkconnection 131 is configured to communicate the location-specificinformation between the smartphone 111 and the portable PC 112, whetherin the form of requests or responses between the devices.

In one embodiment, the secondary wireless network connection 131 betweenthe smartphone 111 and the portable PC 112 is established through a softaccess point Wi-Fi connection hosted by the smartphone 111. For example,the portable PC 112 may be configured to automatically establish orreconnect a wireless network connection to the soft access point hostedby the smartphone 111, the soft access point being identified from theportable PC 112 with a previously known SSID. Upon establishment of thesoft access point Wi-Fi connection (secondary network connection 131),various location-specific information (which may include the SSID of thewireless network access point 101 at the device location) may becommunicated to the portable PC 112.

Thus, in one embodiment, the secondary wireless network connection 131is established to transmit location-specific information thatfacilitates the establishment of the primary wireless network connection122 between the portable PC 112 and the primary wireless network accesspoint 101. However, it will be evident from the various descriptionsherein that the steps performed to establish a secondary connectionbetween the various illustrated devices may vary, and likewise the usesof this secondary connection may extend beyond the transfer oflocation-specific information.

In an example embodiment, modifications may be provided to one or bothof the location-aware device (e.g., smartphone 111) or thelocation-unaware device (e.g., portable PC 112) to implement thetransfer of relevant data between the devices and automaticallyestablish the primary and secondary wireless network connections. Thismay include adapting various components of wireless network adapters, orthe use of network configuration managers to establish connectivity viaa secondary wireless network connection, and use the location-specificinformation to establish connectivity via a primary wireless networkconnection as appropriate.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example configuration 200 of various componentsand operations used to implement an identification-assisted primarywireless network connection (flow 219) from a location-unaware device, aportable PC 220, using location-specific information communicated from alocation-aware computing device, namely a smartphone 230. As shown, theportable PC 220 includes a location information component 222 adaptedfor processing location-specific network information, having a networkconfiguration manager 224 and connection manager 226. The networkconfiguration manager 224 is configured to request location-specificinformation (flow 211) using a secondary network connection establishedwith the Wi-Fi adapter 228.

In one embodiment, this location-specific information is a wirelessnetwork identifier (and in a further embodiment, authenticationinformation) of a primary network. Thus, as illustrated, the connectionmanager 226 is configured to receive and process primary networklocation-specific information (flow 218) for use in establishing theidentification-assisted primary wireless network connection (flow 219)to primary network access point 201.

The secondary wireless network connection (flows 215, 216) used toobtain the location-specific information may be established as follows.On the portable PC 220, the Network Configuration Manager 224 providesthe known network information (e.g., SSID) of the smartphone Wi-Fi SoftAccess Point 236 into the PC Wi-Fi adapter 228 (flow 211). This SSID maybe previously input by a user or transmitted to the portable PC 220using any of a number of techniques.

Next, the secondary wireless network connection may be establishedbetween the portable PC 220 and the smartphone 230. For example, whenthe portable PC 220 resumes from a power-standby state, the Wi-Fiadapter 228 may be configured to perform a direct scan to the SSID ofthe Wi-Fi Soft Access Point 236 to establish a connection to thesecondary wireless network (flow 215), instead of performing a scan forall available SSIDs. The Wi-Fi adapter 228 may, for example, retrievethe location-specific information from a probe response (flow 216), andprovide the location-specific information to another component in thelocation information component 222 (such as connection manager 226, usedto extract and use the wireless network information for establishing theprimary network connection (flow 219) with the primary network accesspoint 201).

On the smartphone 230, location-specific information may be obtained fortransfer to the portable PC 220 and other connected devices inconnection with the following sequence. For example, forlocation-specific information relevant to the primary wireless networkconnection, a Wi-Fi adapter 238 obtains Wi-Fi network information via anexisting primary network connection to the primary network access point201 (flow 212) or a scan to identify the primary network access point201. The Wi-Fi adapter 238 may also request information from otherentities in the location information component 232.

In one embodiment, a location information component 232 includes networkconfiguration manager 234. The network configuration manager 234 isconfigured for determining the right network which either or both of theportable PC 220 or the smartphone 230 should connect to. This processmay include any number of automated or manual techniques. Although thefollowing discusses automated techniques for selecting a network basedon retrieved information from a database, service, or network scan, itwill be understood that a user may also manually establish a connectionto a user-preferred network and manually input authenticationinformation through use of various interfaces to smartphone 230.

In one example embodiment, the network configuration manager 234performs a series of scans (e.g., flow 212) with use of Wi-Fi adapter238. The preferred Wi-Fi identifier may be identified by name or networkcharacteristics. For example, the preferred Wi-Fi network might be anopen network, or an SSID obtained from a listing or data store accessedby smartphone 230, to enable the smartphone 230 or other devices such asportable PC 220 to establish a connection. This network identifier andother and network connection information may be retrieved with otherlocation-specific information (such as a GPS coordinate determined bythe smartphone 230) using database 240 (flow 214 a). Alternately or inconjunction with a database interaction (flow 214 a), a connection to aservice or external database (flow 214 b) accessible via a wide areanetwork 242 such as the Internet (e.g., through the smartphone's phonedata connection) may be used to obtain the location-specificinformation.

In connection with the aforementioned manual or automated techniques,the network configuration manager 234 may be configured to providenetwork connectivity information, such as SSID, authenticationinformation, and the like, for connections to the primary network accesspoint 201. This information, once collected, may be communicated to theWi-Fi adapter 238 (flow 213), and ultimately transmitted to anothercomputing device (namely, the portable PC 220) via secondary networkconnections (e.g., flows 215 and 216) for use in establishingconnectivity to the primary network access point 201.

As illustrated, the smartphone 230 may host a Wi-Fi soft access point236 in connection with the Wi-Fi adapter 238 to establish secondarynetwork connections with one or more location information-receivingdevices such as the portable PC 220. For example, when obtainingrelevant location-specific information (such as connectivity informationfor the primary network), the network configuration manager 234 mayissue a command (flow 213) to the Wi-Fi adapter 238 to establish andbroadcast a soft access point network using the Wi-Fi soft access point236 for a small period of time.

As previously suggested, the SSID of the smartphone's Wi-Fi soft accesspoint 236 is a known unique personal network identifier which thecomputing device (e.g., portable PC 220) is made aware of. Uponestablishment of the connection between the portable PC Wi-Fi adapter228 and the smartphone soft access point 236 initiated by the portablePC (flow 215), information may be communicated (flow 216) via thissecondary wireless network connection. For example, a probe response mayreply with the relevant primary network information (including the SSIDand authentication information) to the requesting computing device toenable the requesting computing device to connect to the primarywireless network. In a further example embodiment, the communicatedlocation-specific information may be encrypted.

In other embodiments, the location information component 222 on thelocation-unaware device (e.g., the portable PC 220) and the locationinformation component 232 on the location-aware device (e.g., asmartphone 230) may be configured to provide other types of locationinformation in lieu of or in addition to Wi-Fi network information. Forexample, the communication of GPS coordinates may be provided via thesecondary network connection. The location-aware device may also performadditional network-based processing and lookups to providecontext-specific information related to location. Additionally,location-based information may be directly provided to thelocation-unaware device to enable the location-unaware device todirectly lookup the information.

FIG. 3 illustrates a flowchart of a method 300 for obtaining primarynetwork connectivity information at a primary network-unaware device(e.g., a portable PC) using a secondary network connection to a primarynetwork-aware device (e.g., a smartphone) according to one exampleembodiment. This method provides a further illustration of various stepsbeing performed at the primary network-aware device (e.g., thelocation-aware device smartphone 230) versus the primary network-unawaredevice (e.g., the location-unaware device portable PC 220) previouslydescribed, although it will be apparent that the order and content ofthe illustrated method steps may vary from that illustrated anddescribed.

As previously explained, the secondary network connection (e.g., apersonal or limited local area network, such as a device-hosted softWi-Fi network or a Bluetooth connection network) may be used to transferconnectivity information for the primary network connection (e.g.,another personal, local, or wide area network, such as an accesspoint-hosted Wi-Fi network). To facilitate the secondary connection, theconnection information for the secondary network connection is collectedand established (such as through user input or an automated technique)at the primary network-unaware device (operation 310).

The various operations occurring at the primary network-aware device mayinclude obtaining primary network connectivity information (operation320), such as performing a scan of available networks, performing alocation-based lookup of available primary networks based on geographiccoordinates or known location, or using user-specified information andselection of a primary network. The primary network connectionavailability may be verified (operation 330) at the primarynetwork-aware device, which may include having the primary network-awaredevice connect to the primary network, connect to a service, or ask foruser verification of the primary network information.

The primary network-aware device may then host or establish a secondarynetwork connection (operation 340) to the secondary network for accessby the primary network-unaware device, using one or more of thepreviously described techniques, such as a device-hosted soft accesspoint. The primary network-unaware device may then establish a secondarynetwork connection (operation 350) to the primary network-aware device,and request connectivity information (operation 360) and other locationinformation via the secondary network connection. The connectivityinformation may then be transmitted from the primary network-awaredevice (operation 370) via the secondary network connection.

Once the connectivity information for the primary network is transmittedor otherwise provided to the primary network-unaware device, thisconnectivity information may be provided to a network connection manager(operation 380) for use in establishing the primary network connection(operation 390).

FIG. 4 provides an illustration of a higher-level method 400 forobtaining location-specific information (which may or may not includeprimary network connectivity information) at a location-unaware device.As illustrated, an optional step performed at the location-aware devicemay include retrieving location-specific information. This retrieval maybe performed with manual or automated techniques. Alternately, thelocation-aware device may provide the location-specific information as aresult of internal processing (e.g., GPS coordinates from a built-in GPSreceiver) or manual input from a user (e.g., network connectivityinformation provided by the user).

A private network connection (e.g., the secondary wireless networkconnection previously described) may be established between thelocation-aware and the location-unaware devices (operation 420). Thelocation-specific information may be exchanged via the establishedprivate network connection (operation 430). Ultimately, thelocation-specific information may be utilized at the location-unawaredevice (operation 440) for any of a number of purposes, including butnot limited to: establishing network connectivity, providing thelocation-specific information in connection with user interfaces ordisplays, and using the location-specific information with otherservices and processes.

The transfer of location-specific information and the establishment ofthe private network connection as described herein may occur at avariety of times, including at regular intervals or at predeterminedtimes. For example, new connectivity information may be needed when acomputing system resumes from a standby-power state, or when apreviously active network connection is detected as being no longeractive. Further, the transfer of location-specific information via theprivate network connection may also occur during low-power states of acomputing device (such as during a standby state) to enable thecomputing device to maintain a primary network connectivity.

Embodiments may be implemented in one or a combination of hardware,firmware, and software. Embodiments may also be implemented as varyingcombinations of one or more devices, machines, or systems. Embodimentsmay also be implemented as instructions stored on a computer-readablestorage device, which may be read and executed by at least one processorto perform the operations described herein. A computer-readable storagedevice may include any non-transitory mechanism for storing informationin a form readable by a machine (e.g., a computer). For example, acomputer-readable storage device may include read-only memory (ROM),random-access memory (RAM), magnetic disk storage media, optical storagemedia, flash-memory devices, and other storage devices and media.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an example machine upon which anyone or more of the methodologies herein discussed can be run. Inalternative embodiments, the machine operates as a standalone device orcan be connected (e.g., networked) to other machines. In a networkeddeployment, the machine can operate in the capacity of either a serveror a client machine in server-client network environments, or it can actas a peer machine in peer-to-peer (or distributed) network environments.The machine can be a personal computer (PC), a tablet PC, a set-top box(STB), a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a mobile telephone, a webappliance, a network router, switch or bridge, or any machine capable ofexecuting instructions (sequential or otherwise) that specify actions tobe taken by that machine. Further, while only a single machine isillustrated, the term “machine” shall also be taken to include anycollection of machines that individually or jointly execute a set (ormultiple sets) of instructions to perform any one or more of themethodologies discussed herein.

Example computer system 500 includes a processor 502 (e.g., a centralprocessing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU) or both), a mainmemory 504 and a static memory 506, which communicate with each othervia a bus 508. The computer system 500 can further include a videodisplay unit 510, an alphanumeric input device 512 (e.g., a keyboard),and a user interface (UI) navigation device 514 (e.g., a mouse). In oneembodiment, the video display unit 510, input device 512 and UInavigation device 514 are a touch screen display. The computer system500 can additionally include a storage device 516 (e.g., a drive unit),a signal generation device 518 (e.g., a speaker), a network interfacedevice 520, and one or more sensors (not shown), such as a globalpositioning system (GPS) sensor, compass, accelerometer, or othersensor.

The storage device 516 includes a machine-readable medium 522 on whichis stored one or more sets of data structures and instructions 524(e.g., software) embodying or utilized by any one or more of themethodologies or functions described herein. The instructions 524 canalso reside, completely or at least partially, within the main memory504, static memory 506, and/or within the processor 502 during executionthereof by the computer system 500, with the main memory 504, staticmemory 506, and the processor 502 also constituting machine-readablemedia.

While the machine-readable medium 522 is illustrated in an exampleembodiment to be a single medium, the term “machine-readable medium” caninclude a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized ordistributed database, and/or associated caches and servers) that storethe one or more instructions 524. The term “machine-readable medium”shall also be taken to include any tangible medium that is capable ofstoring, encoding or carrying instructions for execution by the machineand that cause the machine to perform any one or more of themethodologies of the present disclosure or that is capable of storing,encoding or carrying data structures utilized by or associated with suchinstructions. The term “machine-readable medium” shall accordingly betaken to include, but not be limited to, solid-state memories, andoptical and magnetic media. Specific examples of machine-readable mediainclude non-volatile memory, including, by way of example, semiconductormemory devices (e.g., Electrically Programmable Read-Only Memory(EPROM), Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM))and flash memory devices; magnetic disks such as internal hard disks andremovable disks; magneto-optical disks; and CD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks.

The instructions 524 can further be transmitted or received over acommunications network 526 using a transmission medium via the networkinterface device 520 utilizing any one of a number of well-knowntransfer protocols (e.g., HTTP). Examples of communication networksinclude a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), theInternet, mobile telephone networks, Plain Old Telephone (POTS)networks, and wireless data networks (e.g., Wi-Fi, and 4G LTE/LTE-A orWiMax networks). The term “transmission medium” shall be taken toinclude any intangible medium that is capable of storing, encoding, orcarrying instructions for execution by the machine, and includes digitalor analog communications signals or other intangible medium tofacilitate communication of such software.

The use of specific devices such as the portable PCs and smartphonesdescribed herein to implement the presently described configurations andtechniques are provided for illustration. It will be apparent that othercomputing devices configured with network connectivity may besubstituted for such specific devices. Further, the location-specificinformation described herein is also provided as an illustration, and isnot limited to wireless network connectivity information or GPScoordinates. Therefore, location-specific information may include any ofa number of data types and information directly or indirectly associatedwith location characteristics and attributes.

The Abstract is provided to comply with 37 C.F.R. Section 1.72(b)requiring an abstract that will allow the reader to ascertain the natureand gist of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with theunderstanding that it will not be used to limit or interpret the scopeor meaning of the claims. The following claims are hereby incorporatedinto the detailed description, with each claim standing on its own as aseparate embodiment.

What is claimed is:
 1. A non-transitory machine-readable medium, withinstructions stored thereon, which when executed by one or moreprocessors of a location-unaware mobile computing device, configure thelocation-unaware mobile computing device to: establish a peer-to-peerconnection to a location-aware mobile computing device with a privatewireless network, the location-aware mobile computing device configuredto determine a current location of the location-aware mobile computingdevice; transmit, to the location-aware mobile computing device via thepeer-to-peer connection of the private wireless network, a request toobtain location-specific information for the determined currentlocation, the transmission to be performed when the location-unawaremobile computing device does not know the current location of thelocation-unaware mobile computing device and is unable to connect to apreviously known wireless network identifier; receive thelocation-specific information from the location-aware mobile computingdevice via the peer-to-peer connection of the private wireless network,the location-specific information including connectivity information fora second wireless network whose coverage area includes the location ofthe location-unaware mobile computing device when the location-unawaremobile computing device transmitted the request for location-specificinformation, the second wireless network configured to establishcommunications among a plurality of devices; and establish, with thereceived connectivity information, a connection with the second wirelessnetwork; wherein the location-specific information is collected by thelocation-aware mobile computing device prior to the transmission by thelocation-unaware mobile computing device of the request for thelocation-specific information.
 2. The machine-readable medium of claim1, wherein the connectivity information includes one or both of: anetwork identifier, or authentication information for the secondwireless network.
 3. The machine-readable medium of claim 2, wherein theprivate wireless network is provided by the location-aware mobilecomputing device using an internal access point, wherein the privatewireless network is configured to operate according to a standard froman IEEE 802.11 standards family, and wherein the network identifier is aService Set Identifier (SSID).
 4. The machine-readable medium of claim2, wherein the location-aware mobile computing device is configured toobtain the connectivity information at least in part from a scan of thesecond wireless network.
 5. The machine-readable medium of claim 2,wherein the location-aware mobile computing device is configured toobtain the connectivity information from a database based on one or morelocation attributes.
 6. The machine-readable medium of claim 1, whereinthe private wireless network is a Bluetooth network.
 7. Themachine-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the location-aware mobilecomputing device is configured to operate as: a portable personalcomputer, a tablet computer, or a smartphone.
 8. A non-transitorymachine-readable medium, with instructions stored thereon, which whenexecuted by one or more processors of a location-aware mobile computingdevice, configure the location-aware mobile computing device to:determine a current location of the location-aware mobile computingdevice; establish, in response to receipt of a transmission from thelocation-unaware mobile computing device, a peer-to-peer connection withthe location-unaware mobile computing device via a private wirelessnetwork; receive, from the location-unaware mobile computing device viathe peer-to-peer connection of the private wireless network, a requestto obtain location-specific information for the determined currentlocation, the request transmitted when the location-unaware mobilecomputing device is unable to connect to a previously known wirelessnetwork identifier; and transmit the location-specific information tothe location-unaware mobile computing device via the peer-to-peerconnection of the private wireless network, the location-specificinformation including connectivity information for a second wirelessnetwork whose coverage area includes the location of thelocation-unaware mobile computing device when the location-unawaremobile computing device transmitted the request for location-specificinformation, the second wireless network configured to establishcommunications among a plurality of devices; wherein thelocation-unaware mobile computing device is further configured to usethe connectivity information to establish a connection with the secondwireless network.
 9. The machine-readable medium of claim 8, wherein theconnectivity information includes one or both of a network identifierand authentication information for the second wireless network.
 10. Themachine-readable medium of claim 9, with further instructions storedthereon, which when executed by one or more processors of alocation-aware mobile computing device, further configure thelocation-aware mobile computing device to: provide the private wirelessnetwork using an internal access point, wherein the private wirelessnetwork is configured to operate according to a standard from an IEEE802.11 standards family, and wherein the network identifier is a ServiceSet Identifier (SSID).
 11. The machine-readable medium of claim 9, withfurther instructions stored thereon, which when executed by one or moreprocessors of a location-aware mobile computing device, furtherconfigure the location-aware mobile computing device to: obtain theconnectivity information at least in part with a scan of the secondwireless network.
 12. The machine-readable medium of claim 9, withfurther instructions stored thereon, which when executed by one or moreprocessors of a location-aware mobile computing device, furtherconfigure the location-aware mobile computing device to: obtain theconnectivity information at least in part from a database, the databaseconfigured to provide connectivity information correlated to location.13. The machine-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the private wirelessnetwork is a Bluetooth network.
 14. A method for collectinglocation-specific information for a location-unaware mobile computingdevice, the method performed by a location-aware mobile computingdevice, the method comprising: determining a current location of thelocation-aware mobile computing device; establishing, in response toreceiving a transmission from the location-unaware mobile computingdevice, a peer-to-peer connection with the location-unaware mobilecomputing device using a private wireless network; receiving, from thelocation-unaware mobile computing device via the peer-to-peer connectionof the private wireless network, a request to obtain location-specificinformation for the determined current location, the request transmittedwhen the location-unaware mobile computing device is unable to connectto a previously known wireless network identifier; and transmitting thelocation-specific information to the location-unaware mobile computingdevice via the peer-to-peer connection of the private wireless network,the location-specific information including connectivity information fora second wireless network whose coverage area includes the location ofthe location-unaware mobile computing device when the location-unawaremobile computing device transmitted the request for location-specificinformation, the second wireless network establishing communicationsamong a plurality of devices; wherein the location-unaware mobilecomputing device is further configured to use the connectivityinformation to establish a connection with the second wireless network.15. The method of claim 14, wherein the connectivity informationincludes one or both of: a network identifier, or authenticationinformation for the second wireless network.
 16. The method of claim 15,wherein the wireless network is provided by the location-aware mobilecomputing device using an internal access point, wherein the wirelessnetwork operates according to a standard from an IEEE 802.11 standardsfamily, and wherein the network identifier for the second wirelessnetwork is a Service Set Identifier (SSID).
 17. The method of claim 15,further comprising obtaining at least part of the connectivityinformation at least in part by performing a scan of the second wirelessnetwork.
 18. The method of claim 14, wherein the private networkconnection is established by the location-aware mobile computing deviceto provide the location-specific information to the location-unawaremobile computing device upon the location-unaware mobile computingdevice resuming from a power-standby state.
 19. The method of claim 14,wherein the location-aware mobile computing device is a smartphone, andwherein the location-unaware mobile computing device is configured foroperation as: a portable personal computer, a tablet computer, or asmartphone.
 20. The method of claim 14, wherein the location-specificinformation includes Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinatesdetermined by the location-aware mobile computing device.